New Game Plus (Dark Souls II)
New Game Plus, also known as New Game+ or NG+, is a gameplay mechanic in Dark Souls II. Upon receiving an ending, NG+ can be entered at any time from the Far Fire bonfire in Majula. Overview The story and events in New Game Plus are identical to New Game. The player keeps all weapons, armor, rings, and consumable items that they have acquired, unless said items are plot-critical. They also retain their soul level, stats, and covenant standings. The primary differences are an increase in game difficulty, in the form of more powerful enemies, and greater soul gains from defeating these stronger enemies. New enemies are also introduced, often in the form of black phantom versions of enemies that normally appear in that area. Additionally, some corpses and chests contain different items, certain bosses gain additional drops, and some fights are changed through the addition of new mechanics, attacks, or additional enemies. Burning a Bonfire Ascetic increases the New Game cycle by one stage in the location the bonfire is linked to, with all the effects that entering NG+ normally would have. The local New Game cycle is represented by "bonfire intensity," which can be viewed while resting at a bonfire, and is increased by both entering NG+ and burning ascetics. Increasing the global New Game cycle by entering NG+ will increase the intensity of all bonfires by one stage, regardless of their individual intensities, until the difficulty cap at NG+10. Items lost *Most key items *Fragrant Branches of Yore *Key to the Embedded *King's Ring In the original release of Dark Souls II, the keys that grant access to The Lost Crowns downloadable content are not lost upon entering New Game Plus. In the updated Scholar of the First Sin version they are lost, however. New Game+ and beyond Once the player reaches the end again, they will start with an even harder difficulty and an increase in souls received from enemies. Upon entering New Game+, enemies gain two, three, or four times the damage and the souls they grant on death are increased by a similar amount, while health is usually doubled. On later New Game cycles, the increase is minute, and new enemies are only added in specific spots, such as the basement of the mansion in Majula. The difficulty stops increasing at New Game+10. Additional changes Along with the general changes, the following changes also occur: Note: Some changes may be inconsistent depending on if the original release of Dark Souls II or the updated Scholar of the First Sin version is being played. Things Betwixt *Falconers spawn around the immediate area where New Game+ begins. *A pair of dark spirit goblins spawn before the bridge to Old Ladies' hut. *A dark spirit wielding an Avelyn will spawn in the room with the archer. Majula *The Moon Butterfly Set is now purchasable from Maughlin the Armorer. *A new Skeleton is added in the mansion basement for each addition of New Game+ (i.e. if one is on New Game +2, there will be three skeletons in the basement). Forest of Fallen Giants *A Catarina Knight dark spirit appears near the Soldier's Rest bonfire. *A dark spirit wielding a Heide Knight Sword and a Dagger spawns near Mild-Mannered Pate. *An Old Ironclad Soldier dark spirit spawns near one of the giant memories. *A Hollow Soldier spawns in the open stairwell before The Pursuer boss fight. *A pair of dark spirits spawn at the door to the Place Unbeknownst bonfire. One of them is similar to the one found near Pate, and the other wields a Greatshield and Mastodon Greatsword. *The chest in the room with several ballistas that normally contains a Titanite Shard will have three Titanite Chunks instead. Heide's Tower of Flame *Blue Sentinel dark spirits appear along the path to the Cathedral of Blue. *A dark spirit wielding a Chariot Lance spawns by the fog door leading to the Dragonrider boss fight. *Additional Old Knights spawn on the path to the boss fight. Once only. No-man's Wharf *A red phantom spawns before the boss fight. The phantom has a very low chance to drop the Aurous' Set. *During the fight with the Flexile Sentry, two Suspicious Shadows will spawn, who can drop the Shadow Set. The Lost Bastille *A red phantom Undead Jailer spawns before the Heide Knight. *In the cell next to Straid's, the corpse that usually has a Petrified Dragon Bone will have Resplendent Life and three Firebombs instead. Sinners' Rise *During the fight with The Lost Sinner, two pyromancer phantoms will spawn. *A red phantom Undead Prisoner spawns near the stairs to the left side of the flooded area. *A pair of red phantom Undead Jailers guard the doors to light the boss arena. *In Scholar of the First Sin, two Enhanced Undead spawn at the beginning of the flooded area. Huntsman's Copse *A red phantom Artificial Undead spawns by the bridge before the Executioner's Chariot boss fight. *Most of the Torturers before the Executioner's Chariot boss fight are replaced by red phantom versions. *A pair of red phantom Artificial Undead spawn before Merciless Roenna and the Skeleton Lords boss fight one in front and one behind the player, blocking any escape routes. Undead Purgatory *The Greatsword Phantom will respawn like a normal enemy. Harvest Valley *A red phantom Artificial Undead spawns by the corpse with the Old Knight Pike and Old Knight Greatshield. Iron Keep *A red phantom Alonne Captain spawns near the entrance past the first two Alonne Knights. *Numerous red phantom Alonne Knights and Alonne Captains spawn in addition to the normal enemies. *A red phantom wearing the Ironclad Set minus the leggings and wielding an Drakekeeper's Great Hammer spawns before the Eygil's idol bonfire. Shaded Woods *Gower's Ring of Protection can be looted in the fog section. *A red phantom Goblin will spawn with the normal ones on the path to Drangleic Castle. Brightstone Cove Tseldora *Large boar enemies will spawn with the Enslaved Pigs at the Royal Army Campsite. They always drop a Divine Blessing. *The Duke's Dear Freja will climb over the cliff after the rolling boulders and attack the player by surprise. It will retreat after a while, but any damage done to it will carry over to the actual boss fight. *Additional red phantom Parasite Spiders will spawn alongside regular ones. *A Blue Flame-wielding phantom will spawn close to the Pickaxe-wielding phantom, on the opposite side of the path leading to the spike pit. Grave of Saints *At the very bottom, where Great Heal is found, two red phantoms will spawn. One uses miracles and wears the Dingy Set and drops the full set at +5, and the other wears the Faraam Set with the Ruler's Sword and the King's Shield, and drops a Soul of a Great Hero. Drangleic Castle *A red phantom clad in the Syan's Set and wielding the Drakekeeper's Warpick spawns past the first two Primal Knights. In Scholar of the First Sin, this phantoms wears the Drakekeeper Set. *Starting at NG++, Chancellor Wellager will sell items and spells that are otherwise online-exclusive covenant rewards. *The Ruin Sentinels no longer respawn. *A red phantom wielding the Washing Pole and a Greatshield spawns in the room with the imprisoned Milfanito. *After obtaining the Giant's Kinship, Blue-eyed Durgo will invade the player at the King's Gate leading to the Throne of Want. Shrine of Amana *A red phantom wielding the Butcher's Knife spawns past the second bonfire, near the first Ogre. Undead Crypt *A pair of Imperious Knights spawn past the first bonfire. Notes *If the player is hollow when they meet the Old Ladies in NG+, the game will reset all stats to base levels, making them go through the character creation process once more, but keeping the difficulty at NG+ level. Category:Dark Souls II: Gameplay Category:Dark Souls II: Gameplay Mechanics